The Sociology Department offers a specialized program in criminology, designed to give students a comprehensive introduction to the field. Courses focus on the characteristics and causes of crime and deviance and on the origins, nature and consequences of societal reactions to crime and deviance, giving particular attention to the criminal justice system. Basic instruction is also given in sociological theory and research methods.
The program is particularly appropriate for students wishing to pursue one of the following career options:
graduate work in the social sciences with a special emphasis on criminology or criminal justicea career in criminal justice (e.g., law enforcement, corrections, crime prevention), especially in agencies or departments involved in planning and evaluationa career in law, social work or counseling
Students must complete 34 hours of course work in criminology– 28 hours core and 6 hours of pertinent electives as advised.
Core courses: 101; 205; 213; 380; 312; 371; 381L; two of 412, 414, 416, 423, 424, 425, and 426. Generally, students should follow core courses in sequence, beginning with 100-level requirements, proceeding to 200-level requirements, and so on. Electives: students must choose 6 hours (two courses) of electives from the approved list available from the Department of Sociology or any upper-division Sociology course. Students may not count the same course as both a core course and an elective. Some upper-division electives require other courses as prerequisites.
The Department will accept the grade of C in required and elective Criminology courses as counting toward graduation but requires that the student achieve a minimum grade point average of 2.00 in the Criminology major or minor and a 2.00 overall grade point average. A cumulative grade point average of 2.25 or better in all courses completed is required for regular admission to the Criminology major.